FangRai Collections, 2013
by Logos Minus Pity
Summary: Collection of all prompts that I filled for the FangRai February event of 2013; each prompt/chapter revolves around Fang/Lightning and are stand-alone stories.
1. Two Weeks and One Winter

Legal Disclaimer: You know the deal. I don't own any parts of FF XIII

* * *

_Readers,_

_As February is now over, I am posting what prompts I managed to fill for FangRai February here at FFNet (I posted them first and originally over at AO3—which is also where any of my explicit stories will remain). Now that February is over, it has become FangRai Forever, and I hope to get my act back together soon and to continue filling prompts!_

_Now, this story is in response to/for Prompt #3 at the FangRai Tumblr, originally submitted by Swampert653: "In which Fang and Lightning challenge each other to two weeks in the woods after a bet gone too far. They go out in the middle of winter. Shenanigans and freezing cuddles ensue."_

_Please read and enjoy!_

_~Logos Minus Pity_

* * *

**Two Weeks and One Winter**

It had _seemed _like a good idea at the time.

Okay, if she was going to be honest with herself, it had never struck her as a particularly brilliant idea, but the woman just always seemed to have this particular _way_ of being able to press Lightning's buttons, and Lightning had to admit that she always felt inclined to respond, even when she knew it was something anyone else would consider idiotic.

It wasn't the same as with Snow, who simply irritated her. No, most of the time, she really did enjoy the company of the Pulsian native. Fang was similar enough to her in just all the right ways to understand Lightning, but different enough that Lightning liked spending time with her…more than liked spending time with her—but that was a separate issue. Really, Fang should have known better than to place the blatant challenge between the two of them; of course, she should have known better than to accept.

But Fang had thrown the gauntlet at just the right moment, had egged her on enough that when she had tauntingly said, "You Cocoon natives probably don't even know what to do with snow, let alone _how _to go about surviving in the winter on Gran Pulse!", Lightning had snapped back before she could even think it through, her pride stung by the insinuation that her skills were subpar to Fang's by any measure.

Never mind the fact that she had been more than well-trained by the Guardian Corps on solitary survival, never mind that she—just as much as Fang—had conquered her way through the uninhabited wilds of Gran Pulse during their stint as l'Cie.

All logic had been thrown clear out the window the moment the she had hissed her response back that she could handle any time in the wilderness just as well if not better than Fang; and she had been far too obstinate to dare stepping back down—even when Serah and Vanille had tried to convince them both otherwise—after the terms of a two-week challenge in the woods had been laid out, which is how she found herself here, on the snowy face of Mount Gagazet, already one unhappy week behind her, but a second one still yet to be completed before she could return home with her pride safe and intact.

She would do it, and continue to brave the harsh winter on the mountainside even if it killed her, because death would clearly be preferable than having to handle Fang's insufferable gloating if she conceded before the Pulsian.

But, _gods,_ did she hate the cold! Cocoon never had snow or winter; the fal'Cie had seen to that. She had adapted to life on Gran Pulse, but even then, winter on a mountainside was not the same as winter in a valley and in an insulated and powered home.

Lightning smoothed away the glare that had been forming on her face, and looked back out over the winter landscape presented before her. She was approximately half way up the pine tree that she had decided to scale, comfortably set on one of its thick branches that provided an open view of the white world that surrounded her. It also made it that much easier to spot Fang moving in the distance.

What _was_ that bright purple thing she had on? It certainly had not been there any of the past days that they had met up.

Lightning waited patiently until Fang wandered into closer range, and then she let loose a perfectly aimed shot into the snow just to the left of the huntress. Fang froze, then looked around, searching. When her eyes at last found the soldier, they lit up, and she jogged close to the base of the pine tree, resting her weight against her lance as she jammed it into the frozen ground.

"Oh, fancy seeing you, Light."

Lightning rolled her eyes at the flippant comment, not to be deterred. "What on earth is that?"

"What, this?" Fang plucked at her purple cloak with one hand. At this proximity, Lightning could see that the material was a heavily matted fur of some sort. "This is just a little souvenir from the mountain, you could say. Bashura are nasty critters, but they live in the alpine for a reason. I think the color suits me, too, don't you?"

When there was no immediate response, Fang grinned and continued.

"Oh, and the extra fur makes such a deliciously warm blanket. Almost makes the night feel like summer!"

Lightning ground her teeth in a silent furor, not doubting the underlying truth of Fang's claim. The synthetics she had brought to wear certainly did the job of keeping her alive, but it was just that—the military-issued coat and various base layers were simply designed to keep their wearer alive in the arctic conditions, and nothing more. As the survival bet dragged on into the second week, Lightning had to begrudgingly admit that while her clothes kept her alive, she could never argue that they kept her as comfortably warm as what Fang's fur seemed to.

As if she could read minds, Fang grinned even wider and waggled her fingers in a pantomime of a farewell wave.

"I'm off now, but if the cold does finally get to you, you know whose warm lair and bed you can come crawling to when you want to admit defeat. Oh, and groveling always helps to win my mercy," she suggested, knowing cursedly well that the taunt would hit on target.

Lightning felt her eyes narrow dangerously. Groveling? Really?

"Fang, you had best walk away while you still have legs with which to do so."

The huntress bowed low and took her slow, swaggering leave, calling out as she left. "Stay warm, sunshine!"

Lightning growled aloud to herself from her perch on the branch. The woman was so damn _impossible_!

Lightning let the smile play on her features even as she felt her adrenaline surge at the retreating purple form in the distance. She would show Fang yet.

* * *

She would have her way with Oerba Yun Fang, eventually, of that much she suddenly felt sure.

But first, she had a bet to complete.

They were a week and a half into their survival bet, and Fang was still periodically asking herself what had possessed her to initiate the challenge. Now was one of those moments, as she trekked her way through the bright daylight and the heavy snow.

_Alright_, she quickly amended to herself. _So maybe I do know what got me to do it._

She and Lightning had grown much closer in the past year as they all rebuilt their lives on Gran Pulse, and unlike some of their other companions, Fang had developed a sixth sense concerning how to decipher and handle Light's frequently stone-faced personality, and she could say with a large degree of surety that the two were much, much closer that what they had ever been before.

And then there was the flirting. She had to admit that much to herself. Even if neither of them had said it aloud yet, it didn't change the nature of the beast itself. At the very least, she knew it was flirting on her end of things, and considering that—as even Serah had once exclaimed, somewhat bewildered—Lightning didn't act like _that_ around _anyone_ except for Fang, she was pretty certain that it was, all around, flirting.

It was also probably the most bizarre, somewhat crazy, and completely round-about way of flirting she had ever engaged it, but that's what made it so damn fun for the both of them. The aggressive challenges, the hunts, Lightning's rather violent counters at times…it was all more than worth it to her; the chase was half of the enjoyment, and she was intent on making Light be the first to act and follow through. Although, even Fang had to concede that this time they might have gone a bit too far. She would be content to go back to the more normal standards of teasing for a while once they were finished here, because, gods above and below, it was _cold_!

Granted, they were both surviving their two weeks thus far on Mount Gagazet, though Fang liked to think that she had been doing a slightly better job at it than her champagne-haired interest, and she smiled as she readjusted the newly made fur cloak around her shoulders.

Nothing could replace the insulation of natural fur, not even the fancy winter clothes Lightning had gotten through the GC. Of course, for once Fang could say definitively that she enjoyed the view of those garments on Light more than what some shapeless furs would have looked like. Even with all of the extra layers, those form-fitting synthetics looked good on Farron, showing off all the right angles and attributes of the lean, muscled woman. It was a sight to be appreciated, which is precisely what Fang had done for a grinning instant when she had first laid eyes on Farron at the beginning of this mad man's bet.

Even better than that view, though, had been the priceless look on Farron's face when Fang had showed up several days in with the newly skinned pelt of the bashura that was now cloaking her. The bashura had not been the easiest mark for her, but the four-armed snow beast had been well worth the extended effort for its thick and luxuriously warm purple pelt, to say nothing of how ironically thunderstruck Lightning had looked once she saw Fang saunter in to the tundra clearing while wearing it.

That had, undoubtedly, put Fang an extra point up in terms of who was "winning" so far, and Light had yet to even the score, which had to be vexing her competitive nature to no end.

Fang thought to her own supplies briefly. She had enough rations for the moment. The half-dead grat she had managed to hunt down two days ago still offered some food for her, though it was by no means delectable. What she wouldn't give to be back on the plains right now, able to hunt some real food for herself…ah, but that was the nature of their bet. Just a few more days and it would be back to a warm bed and hot food for the both of them. She was a bit curious to know how Farron had been providing for herself; Fang was an expert hunter, and even then it had been hard work for her to scavenge food in these conditions. That was separate matter, though. Back onto the thought of Lightning, she decided it was a fine time to see if she could go track down her wayward soldier and see what she was up to at the moment. They hadn't seen each other in nearly two days, since the blizzard had blown in. But because the storm had passed overnight, the skies were clear and the air was fresh. It was a fine opportunity to go irritate the elder Farron again. And if she was particularly lucky, she might even be able to sneak up Light and manage to pelt her with a few snowballs before having to make a run for her life.

Snickering at the thought, Fang continued her jovial march through the snow drifts. However, all of her playful thoughts ended sharply when she arrived at the frozen lake on the mountainside, and found her intended target, making her stop short.

There was Lightning, bundled up in her tight-fitting, military-issue winter gear. In fact, if it weren't for her distinctive twist of champagne hair and the puffs of steam that rhythmically plumed from her face, her white form would have been nearly indistinguishable from the winter background of the snow drifts and the frozen lake. But it wasn't really Lightning that Fang was staring at; it was what the soldier was _doing_, seated quite comfortably on a small, foldable stool by an open circle in the ice, with a set of mouthwateringly fresh fish already laid out by her side, clearly indicating what the stringed pole she was holding was for, just in case Fang had any doubts.

"Wha…wh—" Fang felt herself openly gaping.

"Use your words, Oerba Yun Fang. That's what they're there for."

_That_ got Fang to snap her mouth back shut. For once, she felt herself unable to smirk or make a witty comment back at Lightning's overly prim and pleased tone, so she settled with scowling darkly.

"Since when did _you_ learn to ice fish!"

She tried to internally convince herself that she did not sound as accusatory and bewildered as what she thought she might, but the way the corners of Light's lips twitched upward dashed any hopes of that, and she silently cursed.

"Why? Don't tell me you've been trying to _hunt_ for food up here, have you?"

Of course Lightning knew she'd been hunting. Of course she knew how damnably hard it was to find any kind of game during the winter! Why hadn't she thought to ice fish, dammit!? She continued to glower her frustration while Lightning continued to smile back; for once she understood the position the soldier was normally in when she threatened to clobber Fang because the warrior had done something as deliberately sassy and pert as Lightning was now. Fang took a menacing step forward, a mischievous smile finally breaking her features as she re-hefted her lance.

They'd never laid down any rules about thievery, now had they? And it would be the best way that she could now think of to tweak Farron's nose again—a bold burglary and daring escape back to her lair with her newly ill-gained goods.

Lightning immediately shifted in her stool, one hand releasing her fishing pole and straying toward her gunblade. Her brow had now tightened in forewarning, but the flickers of a smile of brute confidence continued to tug at her lips, and she let loose a low, husky warning that only served to make Fang even more delightfully determined in her new task.

"Don't. Even. Fang…"

Fang took one more step closer on the ice, and before she could launch her attack, the fishing pole suddenly ripped out of Lightning's hand with more force than what any simple trout could muster, dragged into the dark water and out of sight.

"What the..?!" Lightning's exclamation died as a large shadow grew under them at an alarming rate.

Then they both looked up, shared a timeless look of pure terror, and then the ice gave way beneath their feet and beneath the direct charge of a fully grown maelspike.

The giant predatory fish shattered the thick ice shelf with its twin curled horns, and before either of them could even utter a scream, they were plunged into the freezing waters of the lake.

Fang felt as though her lungs were seizing with the rush of absolutely glacial cold. She froze for a bare second, and then her survival instinct kicked in and she pumped her arms and legs hard until she broke the surface of the water again. The fresh winter air burned her lungs and nostrils, but felt almost terrifyingly warm compared to the lake water. There was only the briefest instant to catch a glance of Light's bright strawberry hair several lengths away before the maelspike breached a second time, and the resultant waves threw Fang back down under the floating chunks of ice.

When she resurfaced a second time, she managed to sputter out a call to Lightning as she coughed up water.

"Light!"

She didn't even need to finish the rest of her thought before Lightning flashed her blade and nodded back. "Right."

For a third time, Fang went back underwater, torpedoing her body sideways when the fish tried to spear her. She turned back to counter, and saw Lightning already hanging on to the top dorsal fin of the beast, plunging her blade into the back of the fish. Taking the opportunity while it showed itself, Fang switched directions toward the maelspike's head, stabbing her lance as deep as it could go through the scaly exterior.

The maelspike stiffened and thrashed in its death throes, and Fang and Lightning had to quickly pull back their respective weapons lest they lose them as the creature began to plummet toward the lightless depths of the lake, plumes of dark blood blossoming out from it.

Upon breaking the surface, Fang paddled as fast as she could manage toward the shoreline. She heard her spear clatter against the ice as she threw it out of the water, and then she hauled her soaked and tired body out of the lake and back into the bitterly cold air. For one long moment, she just laid there while her mind chattered frantically that she had to force her herself back up and to move. She finally managed to do so when she heard Lightning shuffle toward her.

"We need to…need to…g-get to warmth."

Lightning's teeth were already chattering violently and she was taking the same short, gasping breaths that Fang was.

"Do you…?"

The question went unasked as they both simultaneously looked down at the comm. device still hooked to Lightning's belt. _Did_ they want to radio in for a pick-up? Fang didn't need the soldier to tell her what kind of deep shit they had just gotten into. Cold was one thing, but wet and cold was an entirely different issue, and could kill if they didn't rectify it, and soon. But on the other hand…did they want to call Serah and Vanille for an emergency pickup all because of one rogue maelspike, and with only a few scant days left in their challenge?

Fang looked back up into Lightning's eyes and saw the sharp glint of defiance that she knew surely had to be present in her own. Any other sane person would have argued, would have questioned even thinking otherwise, but at the end of the day, Fang supposed that's exactly what she liked just so much about Light—the woman possessed her exact same brand of mild insanity. No chance were they going to radio in for a pickup unless they had no other options left.

"My s-spot is maybe a five minute walk from here." Fang focused _very_ hard on trying to not stutter as her own teeth started chattering. "Unless yours is…?"

Lightning shook her head convulsively in response. "Let's go. And quickly."

* * *

Lightning sat huddled before the now roaring bonfire blaze that they had started in large cave that was Fang's makeshift lair. Her muscles still quaked for all that she was now dry and dressed in new clothes, courtesy of Fang. The long tunic and pants were a bit over-sized for her smaller frame, but she could care less about aesthetics at the moment; it was a vast improvement from where her own still dripping gear lay on the far side of the fire, waiting to dry out alongside Fang's.

She idly heard Fang moving somewhere behind her, presumably still changing into her own set of clothes, and she quashed the urge to turn around and look.

"Well, this is a definite improvement, I guess."

She finally looked up at the comment, seeing Fang now in a fresh set of dry clothes. Fang eyed her back. "Sorry…don't have any quite in your size."

Lightning shrugged and shivered, and gestured back toward their drying clothes. "Better than that mess."

She turned back, and Fang was standing over her holding a large purple-furred blanket in hand—the other part of the bashura pelt, Lightning recognized.

"Here, Light, you're still freezing. This will help warm you up."

Fang draped the heavy, blanket-like pelt over Lightning, and beneath the fur, Light felt the worst edge of the bone-biting cold ease. When the huntress took a step back, Lightning quirked her head, confused. Fang had been wearing her corresponding bashura cloak when they had gone for their impromptu swim. It was laid out across the bonfire, in no condition to provide any extra warmth to anyone until dry.

"What about you?"

"Me?" laughed Fang, though it sounded a bit forced. "I'll be fine, don't worry. Just need to scrounge up a few more of my extra clothes and blanket…"

As touching as the gesture was, it was also supremely stupid.

"Don't be ridiculous, Fang," said Lightning tartly, for all that she was still shivering. "As much as I appreciate the gesture, you have to be as cold as I am, and this is more than big enough to share."

She said it without any hesitation, because it was undeniably the truth. Even beneath her normally tan face, Fang's complexion was unnaturally pale, as though the color had been leeched from her. The huntress stopped at her words, looking somewhat sheepish, and then she ducked in and under one of Lightning's arms, pressing herself next to the soldier and gratefully accepting the extra warmth of the shared fur blanket.

For her part, Lightning stiffened as soon as she felt the press of Fang's body against hers, and she had to internally scream at herself that this was a purely platonic situation, necessary to ensure their recovery and survival for the day. She also reminded herself that unless she convinced her muscles to relax and warm up, she was likely to end up tearing something with all of the acute physical stress.

The next few minutes were silent as they both stared into the fire, and Lightning was slowly able to persuade her muscles to relax through sheer willpower. A few more errant shivers ran through her body, but it was no longer from the chill. Against Fang like this, and comfortably settled near the fire, the dull ache of the winter cold seemed to have finally dissipated from her bones.

"Some survival team, we make, huh?" Fang laughed softly, breaking the silence. "Nearly beaten by an oversized fish."

"It was a very big fish," tempered Lightning, managing to sound serious even as she felt her lips press together in an attempt to repress her smile.

Fang pondered this before turning her head to forcefully catch Lightning's gaze. "True…but maybe we just keep this to ourselves. No need to let Serah and Vanille know about it. Just our little, not-at-all-embarrassing, secret."

Her malachite eyes glittered and gleamed as they caught the light of the flames; and her cheeks seemed rosier now, more of their natural color replacing itself back. Lightning found herself smiling back, even as she felt a liquid heat surge back through her from within her gut, and she shivered against her will, while her cheeks warmed at the close proximity of Fang's face to her own.

It was close enough to easily see the transition as Fang's brow furrowed and her smile faded momentarily.

"You don't have fever, do you?" Fang's voice was now worried, and she pressed a hand Lightning's forehead before Light could bat it away, certain that it was only causing her blush to worsen.

_Absurd_. She hadn't even the faintest whiff of a sneeze ever since being a l'Cie; completed Focus aside, it seemed that former l'Cie were still granted the extraordinary resilience to illness.

"No, Fang…I…" She trailed off.

No, she wasn't sick. The real reason for her rising temperature and blood pressure was sitting right next to her, a hand pressed on her forehead.

Lightning looked long and hard into Fang's eyes, and recalled all of the silent arguments and questions that had plagued her for the past few month. She thought of all of the peculiar but well-meaning challenges, of the periodic compliments, of the occasional soft but lingering touches…and she thought, rationally, of just what situation the two of them were in now, and of just what more she was exactly waiting for.

She smiled then, and made the slightest of nods to herself.

Then she closed the distance and pressed her lips fully and confidently against Fang's, and felt every bit as good as what she had imagined in the most secretly guarded corners of her mind. Before she could fully pull back from the peck, a hand snaked up to cup the back of her head.

"Nuh-uh." Lightning's eyes opened to see Fang's boring into her own, now a bright emerald. "No way am I letting this chance slip away…"

Then Fang's lips were back, moving gently across hers and evoking a new kind of heat that warmed both of them and made Lightning's toes curl in pleasure as they slowly explored and learned the taste of each others mouths and skin. At some point, when they both finally pulled back to catch their breath, Lightning realized that they had long since moved to laying down, and even now her arms remained entangled in Fang's hair while one of Fang's arms remained draped over her stomach—and that she had no desire to move while they both lay there and she felt the Oerban draw small circles into her abdomen.

Although, as if to spite the thought, another chilled shiver from ran down her back.

Having noticed, Fang grinned. It was not her usual, cocky grin, though, but something softer and gentler, filled with a distinct sweetness.

"C'mere, you bone-headed woman," she said endearingly, pulling Lightning against her even more tightly than before.

Lightning let out a satiated sigh as she felt Fang press a soft kiss on the top of her head, happy to do nothing more for the day than remain comfortably settled where she was, and pleased beyond words that Fang appeared content to do the same.

She fell asleep by the flickering light of the bonfire, warmed by not only the blaze and the heavy fur blanket, but by the heat of Fang's body against hers, her head nestled in the crook of the huntress's neck as though it had always belonged there.


	2. The Very Best

Legal Disclaimer: I own neither FF XIII nor pokemon.

_Readers,_

_This is a response for the FangRai February Tumblr prompt #10: In which Fang and Lightning are Pokemon trainers, running around taming the beasties of Pulse._

_Only point of main importance before you read is to know that Odin is his own special pokemon that I created in my head for this-all others mentioned, including Bahamut-are actual pokemon from the current gargantuan pokedex._

_Now, please read and enjoy this rather crack-tastic prompt!_

_~Logos Minus Pity_

**The Very Best**

Still only in her early twenties, she was already a living legend among the region and beyond, and her story was one that every up and coming trainer knew by heart.

It was the story of a young girl from the nearly unknown sleepy seaside village of Bodhum in Cocoon. It was the story of that same girl who had set out to catch and train her pokémon, and to become a trainer for the history books themselves. She had made her way through the eight gyms of Cocoon, systematically defeating each leader and gaining all of the badges to grant her entrance to the Indigo Plateau. However, once there, she—like so many others before her—had been unable to defeat the monstrously hard Elite Four. But she had not been deterred. She had moved on to the second region which the Indigo Plateau oversaw, to the Archylte Steppes of Gran Pulse, and there she had performed the same feat: eight gyms, eight badges. At only the tender age of sixteen, she had returned to the Indigo Plateau, and had thundered through the Elite Four; Yuna and her psychic pokémon, Jecht the dark trainer, Sazh and his flames, and Kimahri of the rocks and sands. Each one of them had fallen before her renewed might, forced to concede their defeat before the young woman.

Yet just as she was to be crowned as Champion, as the single greatest trainer in both lands, the unimaginable happened. Her rival, the one person whom she had fought on and off throughout all of her journeys, arrived and performed the same feat, decimating the Elite Four with a team of dragon pokémon the likes of which had never been seen. It was there, atop the Indigo Plateau, that the legendary battle was waged between the two rivals to decide who would wear the true crown of victory.

It was said that the battle between the two longtime competing trainers had lasted for eight hours, so strong were their pokémon and their wills to be called the best and greatest in the land. They were equals, matched in almost every way. But in the end, when they were both down to their last pokémon and the sun was threatening to sink below the horizon, she had prevailed, and her rival had, at long last, fallen before her. She had retained her newly won crown and laurels.

And since that fateful day, Lightning Farron had been well and truly named The Very Best, for she had never lost a single challenge in the nearly seven years since she had been deemed "Champion".

No one—ever—had managed to do what she had done.

And no one ever would.

* * *

The Indigo Plateau had been her home for almost seven years now. Located in the high mountain plains by the base of Cocoon, it really was the best of both regions, caught halfway between the heavens of floating Cocoon and the rich earth of the Archylte Steppes on Gran Pulse, giving a generous view of both regions that it ruled over.

The Champion's Quarters had the best view, even on the Plateau.

Her nearly palatial compound was lavish, filled with every material need that any and every champion could ever want. This was because, in large part, a person's time as resident Champion of the League was not expected to be particularly long, which is why they were extended every courtesy and service while still Champion.

Lightning had changed that somewhat.

The longest sitting Champion prior to her had been for only a mere three years. Lightning had by and far outdone anyone in the history of the Pokémon League for their region, so it was only expected that the staff had to become used to her mannerisms and persona.

By her way of thinking, all of the fine garnishes and services that came with her station were kind, yes, but they were unnecessary. She was neither made of porcelain nor some secret princess. She was a trainer, still, a woman who had worked her with blood, sweat, and tears from being a slip of a girl into the strong and confident woman she was now. Becoming a champion didn't happen by sitting in a gold-gilded dining room all day, looking at the paintings of her predecessors; it came from simple, hard work.

She had no need of the extravagant quarters and the maid service that was at her beck and call; she hadn't needed it since the first night she had fallen asleep here, and she still did not need it now. Thankfully, the maids had long since learned to respect the eccentricities of her privacy. They let her be, for the most part, no doubt awaiting the day that someone would finally overthrow her reign and they would have a more reasonable master to cater to.

It appeared they would be a long time in waiting.

Yet again feeling the familiar sensation of claustrophobia beginning to overwhelm her, Lightning purposefully and rapidly exited through the back of her small mansion, out into her private training grounds.

Outside, the choking sensation faded again. This was her place, her sole refuge in an elevated city where visitors only came with hopes of watching her fall. On this small grassy meadow atop a sheer cliff face, she could maintain some measure of rest and respite. No one was to disturb her here—not the maids, not even her colleagues in the Elite Four.

She took her usual spot on the very edge of the cliff, letting her feet dangle off of the edge as she watched the sun change from yellow to orange while it dipped toward the western edge of Archylte Steppes below.

At nearly four thousand feet up here at the plateau, most people would balk at sitting on the cliff edge, but Lightning knew no fear. The potential drop meant nothing to her. Should she slip or fall, her aerodactyl was at her side, to carry her on wings of stone that would defy both gravity and death.

Fear was not a word a champion could know, or afford to know.

While the five pokéballs that she kept hooked around her belt remained obediently quiet, the sixth that she always kept looped around her neck, resting over her heart, moved, and the pokémon set itself free, suddenly towering over her left side.

But that was Odin. His pokéball was a formality more than anything, a place for him to keep his massive form when there was not proper space indoors for him. Out here in the fresh mountain air, there was room enough for him to be free and to stretch his electrical equine form. His snout dipped and he nuzzled his golden nose into Lightning's hair, snorting lightly. Light patted him and leaned into the touch, relishing the comfort.

He was her first pokémon, and her oldest and truest friend. It was Odin who had chosen her, not the other way around, that fateful day ten years ago on the sands of Bodhum Beach. When the electric-type pokémon of nearly legendary rarity had charged along the beach at her, stopping only when—she was still convinced—he had allowed her to "catch" him, it had started her on the path of a lifetime down the Pokémon League.

She didn't regret a single moment of it either, but she couldn't lie to herself and say that it hadn't lost some of its luster in the past seven years.

There had been good times, for certain. The high level matches, the training, even the being called on by the police to help them catch and overthrow the masterminds of a pokémon smuggling ring. And after each adventure and match, she had her home on the Indigo Plateau to return to, and she had the only other individuals who could even hold a candle to her and Odin's strength—the Elite Four—at her side to commiserate and support her.

But, at the same time, she wasn't part of the Elite Four, and that understanding hung upon her just as heavily as her title. She was separate from them, different, and that gap had widened and grown more pronounced in the past few years. Even the Elite Four came and went, Lightning still remained.

A flash of movement in the distance caught her peripheral, and she glanced over at the looming shadow that was crossing the mountains and making its way toward the Indigo Plateau. After a moment, Lightning turned back away toward her previous view of the sunset.

It seemed that her long-time rival was visiting the Elite Four again, but she couldn't bring herself to care less.

* * *

It felt like ages since Fang was last at the Indigo Plateau, but she still knew the massive training facility like the back of her hand; it wasn't like they had done any noteworthy renovations since she had stepped down three years earlier, and the place still looked the exact same as when she had last visited about a year ago.

She might not be a member of the Elite Four anymore, but her face was still well-known and recognized, and the guards and officials quickly bowed their heads to her and let her through the gates and checkpoints that other trainers would have to present badges to get through.

For a girl who grew up in such a tiny village, she had risen to impressive heights.

Oerba had always been a small settlement, barely larger than, say, Bodhum, if the comparison were to be made. But while Bodhum hung in the floating region of Cocoon, Oerba rested alongside one of the great lakes of the northern Steppes. Oerba also had a much, much older history of pokémon trainers than the previously unheard of Bodhum.

It was the ancient home of dragon trainers. Generation after generation of Yuns had lived in the village, passing on the difficult art of training dragon-type pokémon, and of harnessing their awesome power and potential. And Oerba Yun Fang was one of the greatest dragon trainers of her generation. Her grandfather was the leader of the clan, and had been the respected Grandmaster Dragon Trainer for the last thirty years.

When she lost to Lightning Farron and bowed her head in defeat before her superior rival, the only instinct left in her was to return home. But she had been offered a place among the Elite Four instead, to take the position that Kimahri was going to retire from. Even for someone who could only be counted as "second-best", it was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and it had not been a wasted one.

Her four years with the Elite Four had turned out to be more fun than what she could have ever predicted. There were more changes in their ranks—Yuna left, Sahz took one year off in there—but they were always the same tightly knit group, sharing embarrassing stories over dinner just as much as looking out for one another as friends, even while they all grew stronger and more capable as trainers—though perhaps none of them quite so capable as their resident champion.

At the end of the day, however, she was a dragon trainer, and after a visit to see her grandfather several years in to her residency as one of the Elite Four, her blood had suddenly called out to her with an intense urge to go back home and to the clan. That call had not faded when she returned to the Indigo Plateau, and so after only four rambunctious and glorious years of being one of the most dreaded trainers in both Gran Pulse and Cocoon, she put in her resignation and decided to go back home.

While she had not regretted it—and how could she not, for in three years time she had revitalized the Oerba dragon gym, collected even more dragon pokémon, and was well on her way to following in her grandfather's footsteps—it had not made leaving the Indigo Plateau any easier. She was leaving another family behind by returning to Oerba, one that included the Champion just as much as the Elite Four.

When Fang had accepted her role as one of the Elite Four, her epic rivalry with Lightning had been forced to change. They were no longer competitors, they were teammates of a sort now, working to support the very same system that had allowed them to excel and prosper at pokémon training.

So after leaving the Indigo Plateau, she had tried hard to keep in touch not only with her friends still in the Elite Four, but with Lightning, too.

Light hadn't needed to say anything for Fang to sense the unspoken disappointment that they were at long last parting ways. In the four years while Fang had been living on the Indigo Plateau, the antagonistic relationship between her and the Champion had lessened and relaxed into an easy, friendly connection, and it didn't take much for her see the that Lightning would in fact be missing her about as much what she would miss Lightning.

She had visited the Plateau multiple times during her first year away, and had even gotten a surprise visit back in Oerba from the Champion once, come to "inspect" the revitalization of the Oerba gym. As Fang's time became more consumed with her training and her new duties as a gym leader, her visits had understandably thinned, but she continued to exchange letters and occasional calls with her old pals in the Elite Four just as much as Lightning. Within the past year, though, even that communication with the Pokémon League Champion had slowed to a stagnant trickle.

Farron had never been the most forthcoming of individuals—her relatively cold demeanor saw to that—but it had been gradually morphing into some else.

The legendary champion was growing more than just reclusive; she was becoming unhealthily distant, and even Sazh had become worried enough in the last few months that he had decided to write to Fang for her advice, having exhausted all of his other options and attempts. No one would begrudge a pokémon celebrity like Lightning her time to herself, but there were metaphorical walls that had been put into place within the past year that showed no sign of coming down.

Fang suspected those walls had been a long time in building, and she berated herself for having been too busy to have noticed them earlier. She would change that now though. She might not be a rock or ground specialist, but dragon trainers knew a thing or two about force. It was time to kick her rival's butt back into gear.

Fang charged into the Champion's Quarters without any preamble or introductions. She was a current gym leader and a former member of the Elite Four, and she could do as she pleased unless the Champion wanted to try and teach her lesson otherwise—which Fang would be all to happy to accept. But the stealthy woman was not to be found in the waiting room, the Hall of Fame, nor even in her own bedroom as Fang tore through the veritable mansion.

At this point, one of the maids came forward and worriedly insisted that the Champion was in her private training grounds, and not to be disturbed. Fang blatantly ignored the warning and walked right through the back doors, absentmindedly allowing Bahamut back out of his pokéball at the same time. Rivals were supposed to push each other's boundaries—it was how they got to grow stronger. No simple "Do Not Disturb" sign was going to dissuade her.

She marched through the orange-lit meadow, toward the very edge of the cliff and meadow where Lightning sat, her outline emblazoned by the setting sun, and Odin at her side.

_Damn horse,_ thought Fang, though it was with a degree of affection. Had it not been for his impossibly fast and lucky attack using Extreme Speed, Bahamut would have won that bout, and Fang would have had her name engraved in the Hall of Fame instead.

It was Odin who turned and whinnied at Fang and Bahamut, stomping his hooves and scattering small static bolts of electricity in greeting.

There was no forthcoming "hello", or even an agressive "get out" from the stoic strawberry-haired woman next to him, though, not even when Fang walked all the way until they were only a few small steps apart. She said nothing, silently daring Lightning to act first.

"I see Bahamut reached his final evolution stage," she noted at last, glancing sideways briefly.

That had happened well over a year ago, and Fang was proud of it. He had come such a long way from when she first raised him as a bagon, and now he was a fully grown salamance, able to the rule the skies with her atop his back. Her grandfather was the only other living trainer with a salamance, making Fang the possessor of a pokémon of nearly legendary status.

Dragon pokémon were notoriously hard to raise and train, but Fang had a full team of her favorite scaly creatures tucked in her belt. Her little deino, her dragonair and fraxture, her garchomp and flygon, and her precious and long-time companion, Bahamut, the most noble and majestic of them all.

Fang held her chin high. "And I think it suits him well. There isn't anyone we couldn't take down now, including you and your walking thunderstorm here."

The look on in Odin's eyes was downright offended by the insinuation, but there was no such response from his master. "Good for you, then."

It wasn't meant to be belittling, but the apathetic way in which the words were spoken brought the dragon gym leader's anger roaring into life.

"Is that it then?" Fang challenged, letting some fire bleed into to her voice. She deliberately baited the Champion, trying to get rise—to get something—out of her. "This is what the big, bad, legendary Champion of the League has to offer? Maybe it's about time I finally challenged you again and rightfully took the title of "the best" from you."

Lightning shrugged, still looking off into the sunset. "You could try, if you think it would prove anything."

Fang ground her teeth, feeling her temper simmer, but now realizing that the normal tactics by which she had interacted with Lightning for years had been outgrown. "Some fun you are. I liked you better back in the old days."

"Contrary to the way you act, Fang, it's not all fun and games. You should know that by now just as well as I do."

Fang brushed away the lightest of frowns as soon as she felt it touch her lips. This was no good. "And why can't it be fun and games? Isn't that what it's always been, I thought?"

Lightning made a dismissive sound in her throat. "Things were simpler back then, Fang. We were kids. It's not the same now."

"How do you mean, things were simpler?" Fang encouraged, not understanding what Lightning was trying to say, but not willing to let the issue go while the Champion was willing to talk.

The muscles in her jaw worked visibly. "It…it was basic, then. Explore, discover, fight…build a team, earn badges, and find new matches. But that was all it amounted to. I was young then, and I completed what I set out to do. And I'm still here. I'm still the Champion. But I'm also an adult now, just like you, Fang. You have your village, your clan, and your own gym. You know the time and dedication it takes. I am the Champion and face of the Pokemon League. I am the final challenge for every aspiring trainer in our regions. This is my place."

Fang seized on that, taking one step closer, and further reducing the limited space that remained between her and the seated trainer.

"And what if you aren't happy here? What if the same exhilaration and thrill that brought you this far is gone now?"

"Well, what then, Fang?" mimicked Lightning back, clearly seeming displeased with all of the probing and rhetorical questions.

Fang felt her sharp gaze soften, matching her voice as she spoke again. It was all so simple to her. "Then why not leave it all behind?"

"Because I can't."

It was said as a simple statement, almost as a fact, with no bite or feeling behind, and Fang wanted to pull her hair in frustration. What had happened to the energetic and determined girl that she had first met nearly ten years? That version of Lightning, for all that she had been younger, had been filled with a pulsing desire to win and to grow; it had shown in the strong bond with her pokémon, it had shown in her sharp eyes and her equivalently sharp tongue as Fang had taunted and challenged her every step of the way. They had been equals in those days. Fang and Bahamut had won as many fights against Lightning and her Odin just as she had lost. The score had been caught at a standstill, until they reached the Indigo Plateau. It was here, almost seven years ago, that Lightning had seized the ultimate victory from Fang, and trampled on her dreams by doing so.

If the glory that day had been beyond measure for Lightning Farron, the hurt and disappointment had been just as crushing for Fang. All of her hopes and expectations were thwarted in a single, impossibly perfect attack launched by Odin; when Bahamut had crumpled to the ground knocked out, Fang dropped to her knees after him, drained and empty, defeated at last.

She hadn't known what to do after that. Train more? For what cause? Perhaps she could come back and beat Lightning, but that victory would no longer hold the same sweetness, because Lightning was now, and always, the first and best. At a loss, Fang had collected her things, and would have left back to Oerba, to lick her wounds and try to find some semblance of pride again. But, for her, the unexpected had happened.

Almost against her will initially, she accepted the role, and joined the Elite Four, and the rest…well, the rest, as they would say, was history.

But it was that history that had shaped and molded the present.

Fang realized that the calm tones in which Lightning had been speaking had slowly given way to something else that was present beneath the never-changing stony exterior, and when she recognized what it was, she felt an ache in her chest. Hidden beneath all of the icy walls her old rival had built around herself was a surge of loneliness and desire. Fang had known the same, and she saw through it in a heartbeat. She might be the greatest Pokémon League Champion of all time, but Lightning was tired of it. She had lived on the Indigo Plateau for seven years, and defeated usurper after usurper, with even the best trainers providing little challenge to her. The role of a Champion was never meant to last this long, and it had slowly but surely drained all of the joy that Light had once taken in it. Fang may have been one of the Elite Four, but it wasn't quite the same; she had three other people to share in her burdens and victories, and now she had a gym and an entire village behind her. But for Lightning Farron…with every victory she had added on, her throne had become even higher, and Fang realized now that not only had it made it harder for people to reach the Champion, but it had made it harder for the Champion to reach back down.

Maybe being at the very top wasn't all that people cracked it out to be.

"I can't just leave, Fang."

And finally, _finally_, she saw the glint of some familiar emotion in the Champion's face. Her brow furrowed ever so slightly with her lips barely pursed, and Fang felt her muscles tighten in familiar anticipation as she caught the oh-so-familiar signs of foolhardy stubbornness from the Bodhum native. It made her want to whoop in victory. It might only be the barest glint, but it was still a glint of the Lightning she had known and fought against, and that was the Lightning she was searching for. This she could deal with.

"Why not?" she said, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrows as she looked down toward the Champion. "Why not just go and—"

"And just what would I do?" Lightning argued back now, her voice becoming heated with some unnamed emotion. "Go back to my home town and nurture a gym like you have? Bodhum already has a gym in the making—that's been the recent project of Serah and her husband. I can't just take that away from them, and I refuse to simply give up on my training to retire to a seaside village for the rest of my life."

Fang sighed, now exasperated. "I wasn't talking about being a gym leader, Light! Besides, I don't think that's for you, anyway. I meant what you said before, about exploring and traveling. There are plenty more regions beyond the League here, you know. Why not take off to those places—new pokémon, new people, new trainers and places. What's to stop you?"

"I can't just leave this place because I feel like it and go off on my own gallivanting around!"

Back to that misplaced sense of duty again. Champions weren't _required_ to stick around if they didn't want to—that's what the Elite Four were here for, not that Light would take exception to that; Fang knew her stubbornness better than anyone. So she countered instead with the most simplistic and tangential response that she could think of.

"Then let's leave together."

At this, Lightning's eyes popped wide open, surprise written all over her face as she stared upward.

"But…Oerba…you have a gym don't you Fang? And what about training under your grandfather…?"

Fang waved away the concern. They were valid points, but Lightning only knew the half of it. "Grandfather is very much still alive and kicking, and seems unlikely to pass on the title of "Grandmaster Dragon Trainer" for many more years yet. And as for the gym…yes, I've been helping with that, but I'm not _really_ the full-time leader, otherwise no one would ever get a badge." That got a twitch of a smile from the Champion. "Kain has been doing a lot of the work and training lately, and I think it's a good time for him to take full charge from me and to understand what it means to run a gym."

Plus after three years back at home, she was getting that familiar old itch again; it was that same urge that had made her leave home in the first place all those years ago to embark on the Pokémon League. Perhaps it was high time for her to give in to her wanderlust again.

It had been fun back then, traveling through Cocoon and Pulse, collecting badges and periodically testing herself against Lightning, each one of them trying to outdo the other. The rivalry between the two of them had long since passed its prime, but to travel beyond the league, exploring new lands and discovering new pokémon with not a rival at her side, but a trusted partner and more…that...that Fang knew she could do. The question now was, could Lightning?

Fang held out one hand to Lightning, and gestured with the other toward Bahamut—their clear ride out of this place. "Come with me, Light. Let's go."

There was a very long silence as Lightning stared up at Fang, and at what was being offered.

And then…

"Odin, return!" She commanded, and the electric-type horse retreated into the pokéball that Light kept hung around her neck. Then she turned to look at Fang, and for the first time in a great many years, a smile of true and undeniable excitement broke her features and the cage of apathy that she had fallen into. She grabbed her former-rival's hand and allowed the dragon-trainer to haul her upright and close. "Let's go, Fang. You and me."

She had been the very best in all the realms for seven years; it had been a glorious run, but it had been lonely at the top. Now it was time to move on to something even better, and this time she wouldn't be alone.


	3. Compulsion

**_Author's Notes:_**

_Hello Readers,_

_The prompt for this chapter was Prompt #43: Fang's always wanted to use her teeth to take off Lightning's clothes._

_That alone should tell you that my fill is E for Explicit. Therefore, it will not be posted onto FFNet due to the guidelines of this website._

_If you would like to read this chapter, you will need to do so over at Archive of Our Own (which I highly recommend anyway)._

_Thanks for your patience!_

_~Logos Minus Pity_


	4. Cycles of Earth and Fire

Legal Disclaimer: I own neither FF XIII nor Avatar

* * *

_Dear Readers,_

_This is a response for the_ _Prompt #63: Avatar: The Last Airbender/Legend of Korra crossover-AU. Fang as an earth bender, Light as a fire-lightning bender._

_For this story, it actually takes place in both time periods of the Avatar universe._

_This is also the last prompt that I managed to fill during the month of February itself, though I have plans to continue working on prompts (particularly now that FangRai February has become FangRai Forever!). _

_Thank you to everyone who supported FangRai February (authors, readers, submitters and all); and please continue to support FangRai Forever!_

_~Logos Minus Pity_

**Cycles of Earth and Fire**

On the once grassy fields before the great city of Taku in the Earth Kingdom, war had been officially declared. For the last week, wave after wave of Fire Nations troops had poured off of the vast fleet stationed along the beachhead, beginning the first of what Fang knew would be many battles to determine their fates. The balance had failed them, and the Fire Nation looked to consume a world that was bereft of an Avatar.

Fang stood alongside her fellow earth-benders and thought of her sister, Vanille, still safe behind the walls and gates of Taku. She would continue to fight, continue to defend, until she had nothing left.

"Ready!" The warning was echoed down the ranks. "Here they come!"

And sure enough, on the ridge of the hill, a dark line of soldiers appeared, all dressed in their identical black and red armor, their faces obscured by their angry, mask-like helmets. They charged down the hill, toward the waiting earth-benders, and the world exploded in a furious battle of the elements. Fang moved without pausing to think, calling up the sand and mud and stone before her hands and feet. The earth responded, and she tore through the ranks of her enemies, safe from their burning flames as took them down one by one. Before the dedicated forces of Taku, the fire benders began to break, fall, and retreat.

"Push them back!"

Fang soundlessly followed the order, pushing forward, intent on driving fear into the invaders. And then she stopped.

While most of the Fire Nation soldiers who could still move were already fleeing back toward their ships, one stayed his place, helmet gazing directly at Fang, challenging her forward progress.

They stared silently at one another, neither speaking nor acting, but waiting.

The soldier crouched low, falling into that distinctive fire-bending stance with curled fingers and an outstretched arm.

And then…then, they both moved.

Hot fire and raw earth soon filled the air as they traded blows. Fang was a talented earth-bender—one of the best in Taku, and she knew it. But this faceless Fire Nation invader was clearly talented, too—far more than his weaker brethren that Fang has systematically defeated thus far. His moves were unbelievably agile, and his flames were strong and lively, though Fang's mud shield held before his onslaught.

She countered his flames with a storm of rocks, sending air-borne stone clubs careening toward the fire-bender.

The soldier was fast, and able to deflect the brunt of the assault, but his helmet still took a jarring blow that bent and cracked the side of the armored helm. He stumbled then, dazed for a moment, but unleashing a quick barrage of fire to prevent any more attacks from Fang while he struggled to remove the broken helmet. A moment later, and when the fire stopped and Fang dared to drop her rock-wall shield she had called up, she was greeted to the sight of pale skin and furious blue eyes, with a stray twist of strawberry-blond hair that fell down the side of one cheek.

Her opponent was a woman!

Fang knew she shouldn't be surprised, but with their formless closed helmets and standard armor, all of the Fire Nation soldiers looked alike on the field.

"You," spoke the soldier. Her voice was low, and she enunciated crisply and with a tone cold enough to send shivers running down Fang's spine. "Will not get so lucky again."

She began moving her arms, bending, but her motions were completely different now, an utterly distinct style from the normal fire-bending that Fang was used to seeing, and it made her stop for a moment, both wary and curious. All of the usual rigidity and violent motion that had been present in her bending only seconds earlier was now gone, replaced with a string of flowing circular designs that seemed more reminiscent of water-bending.

Sparks abruptly crackled to life on the two outstretched fingertips of the Fire Nation soldier, and Fang had the barest of moments to feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up in anxious terror. Out of pure instinct, she dove aside just as the air screeched and a searing thunderbolt vaporized the spot that her head had been in a moment earlier.

She regained her footing, turned to counter, and was forced to duck and roll in repeated desperation as a nearly continuous flurry of the bizarre fire-lightning tore up whatever air and ground she passed through.

It was a desperate struggle for her avoid the otherwise lethal attacks, but was only a matter of time until she slipped up.

She had seen the bolt of electricity flying toward her face, and had wrenched her body sideways, but she hadn't been quite quick enough to evade the lightning attack. It had grazed her left side, burning off some of her hair and simultaneously ripping open and cauterizing part of her shoulder and ear. The smell of her own burnt flesh and hair pervaded her nostrils, and her stomach flipped with nausea even as her nerves screamed out in senseless agony. A sharp kick to the chest quickly followed and sent her sprawling into the ground. When she looked up, the fire-bender stood only a few feet away—too close, Fang knew, for her attacks to miss.

"It ends here."

The words were cold and emotionless, though Fang swore for a moment that she saw the briefest flicker of something like regret pass through the woman's otherwise unreadable eyes. Then she began the motions for lightning-bending, sparks crackling to life at her fingertips again.

Fang acted out of pure instinct. One foot stomped the ground awkwardly and sent a hail of earthen spikes up in a final counter-attack. And her hands…she didn't know why, but she threw one hand out toward the where her death would surely come from, and she threw the other fist first into the hard ground, thinking only of the deep well of strength in the earth, which could handle the force of even quakes and volcanoes.

And then the lightning struck her; and instead of obliterating her, it moved into her.

For a moment locked in eternity, Fang actually felt her heart stop as the tremendous amount of electricity rushed through her chest, out her other arm and into the ground. Her vision grew dark and her blood ceased to move in her veins, and as death overtook her, pain exploded beneath her rib cage, dragging her conscious mind kicking and screaming back into the world of the living.

Spots exploded throughout her vision in waves, and her breath rasped painfully against her raw throat. Every nerve ending felt as though it was on fire, but she was alive. Somehow. But what of her opponent?

At the fearful thought, she managed to haul herself upright, the worst of the terrible burning subsiding into all-consuming numbness. Her right arm dangled uselessly at her side, immune to feeling and motion, and for a moment Fang whirled nervously, afraid for a second thunderous attack of lightning. Her fears were now unfounded, though, as she saw her opponent on the ground several feet away, unable to get up. Fang's last blow had struck true, and a solid spire of shale rock had pierced the fire-bender straight through her amored chest.

As Fang cautiously dragged herself closer, the soldier feebly tried to react and bend again, but it was useless. The small sparks and flames died on her fingertips, her ability to fire-bend now bleeding away along with her life.

A bloody froth oozed from the woman's mouth, mixing further with the dirt and mud that marred an otherwise beautiful face.

"S-Serah," she tried to call out, her fingers reaching toward the smoke filled skies. "I…sorry…I lost."

Fang hovered over the dying bender, frozen in place as her enemy spoke out.

"Serah?" She asked dumbly.

Those startlingly blue eyes came back into a focus for a brief moment, resting back on Fang's face before dilating again as if seeing something beyond her.

"My…my sister…" The fire-bender coughed with the effort of speaking, and Fang felt the warm splatter of blood speckle her against her cheeks.

Suddenly all prior joy at defeating her foe was sucked right out of Fang, leaving her with a void where she felt her heart was supposed to be. She looked up for a moment, at the charred and torn fields before her smoking city, and wondered what madness this war had started. This wasn't some nameless and shadowy enemy before her, but a person—a person who had dreams and aspirations and family, no different than her. She was an enemy, but still, Fang debated the urge to help comfort and ease her passing. However, when she looked back down, though only a bare second had passed, it was too late, and the strong and proud eyes had stared her down on the battlefield were now glazed and lifeless. Fang felt unreasonably hollow, but she took the time to press the unknown soldier's eyelids closed before pushing herself fully upright

Her right arm was a dead weight on her side. Wicked looking burns marred the length of it, souvenirs from channeling the fire-lightning through her body and into the ground. She supposed it was a blessing that she could no longer feel the pain because of the numbness, but she also knew with a sinking feeling in her stomach that her arm was beyond help, and she would be lucky without it to manage even half as much earth-bending as what she had only just been capable of; she could only hope that someday she might regain at least partial use of the limb. Her thoughts remained heavy with shock as she was helped back into the city by other benders and guards, her mind still consumed with fresh memories of the lifeless and beautiful face she had left behind on the killing fields; she might have won in the end—they might still win in the end—but at what cost?

She thought of her sister Vanille, and of the family that she had parted the fire-bender from, and she felt shaky and queasy all over again; all she wanted now was to go home. If the cycle of rebirth was really true, then perhaps in another life her blood debt might be repaid.

* * *

Lightning let out a sigh as punched her time card for the day. She'd made some good money this afternoon with her bending; she might be young, but she was by and far one of the best lightning-benders in all of RepublicCity, and her energy output today had been phenomenally high, even for her. Maybe all of that martial training the past few months was actually been paying off. At the very least, the extra money she'd been making lately during her power plant shifts would help things out at home with Serah.

She left the building and moved out onto the sidewalk of the busy, late-afternoon street of the Industrial District. And there, standing just a few paces outside of the plant gates was an unexpectedly familiar face.

"You didn't have to wait for me to get out of work, Fang," she chided gently, though she was touched by the gesture.

Rather than responding, the earth-bender closed the remaining distance between. Then Fang kissed her, slowly and thoroughly, and with a tenderness that almost made Lightning think that it had been weeks since they last saw each other instead of just yesterday.

"Hello, beautiful." Fang spoke only after pulling back.

Lightning sighed amusedly, more pleased than annoyed. "Fang, this is a public street."

The other woman raised her eyebrows. "I thought it was an accepted fact that most sweethearts greet and part like that?" But knowing better than to press the issue further, she changed subjects. "Are you ready for a session? Or did you want to take it easy after your plant shift? It'll just be you and me today—Snow can't make it."

Lightning straightened. It was the end of the week, and she was more tired than what she would care to admit, but that was beside the point. There was work to be done, so they went down to the abandoned warehouse district down along the old harbor, and right alongside the lapping waves and passing boats, they bended and sparred against one another, Lightning's fire versus Fang's earth.

After all, there was less than a week left before matches would commence for the Pro-bending League, and that meant less than a week before Lightning's first ever match as part of Fang and Snow's league team. It was hard to believe that only a scant few months earlier, she hadn't even known who Fang was, let alone been interested in Pro-bending.

Snow had been an unwanted intrusion into her personal life from the moment he and her younger sister Serah had begun dating; he was a water-bender, and a Pro-bender competitor, which maybe explained Light's prior disregard of the Pro-bender competitions in their entirety. She had never actually gone to watch Snow and his team participate in the league matches, but had been assured by Serah that his team was more than capable. However, that had all changed when the fire-bender on his team decided to step down and retire. Light wasn't sure whose idea it had originally been—Serah's or Snow's—but either way, it had ended up with Snow desperately trying to convince her to take his old teammate's place.

Lightning had initially refused all of Snow's attempts to get her to join whatever pro-bending team he was on, and while she had steeled herself away in preparation to continue putting off his incessant requests, she had not been expecting him to send his other team member in a last ditch attempt to persuade her. The first day that Lightning had walked out of the plant and found the smirking earth-bender leaning by the door, waiting just for her, she had been completely taken off guard. It had been more than the unusually catching beauty of the smiling woman—and she was undeniably beautiful—it had been something more that had made Lightning's heart unexpectedly skip and then speed up, causing a warm ache to spread through her chest. For all that RepublicCity was a burgeoning metropolis, she couldn't help but shake the feeling like this was an old familiar of hers, a face that she had not seen in a great many years.

It hadn't helped when the other woman's first response on meeting Light had been to let out a low whistle and exclaim, "Snow didn't mention that you were talented _and_ pretty!"

Had anyone else spoken such brazen words to her face, they would have likely received a sharp elbow along with a few sharp words. But Lightning had frozen on the spot, her embarrassment only further fueling the rising heat in her cheeks. And yet despite all of that, somewhat in her couldn't just turn away from the brazen women.

Fang had coaxed and teased and complimented at all of the seemingly perfect times until Lightning had finally relented, promising to at least give it a shot. And once she had started training with Fang, it became a finished deal, one that she no longer had any intention of backing out of.

As they moved in a mock fight against each other now, she was reminded all over again of everything that she admired about the woman she was falling in love with.

For an earth-bender, Fang's style was surprisingly flashy and theatric, though it was more than effective for her, even in sparring. With all of her innate skill in earth _and_ metal-bending, Fang could have easily met the requirements to join the police force, and yet the woman had declined, instead looking to make a name and living for herself in the Pro-bender Arena. Granted, given all that Lightning knew of Fang now, the arena seemed much more suited to Fang than the rigid order of the policing squad. It wasn't about the theatre or the show, though Lightning didn't doubt Fang enjoyed that much; it was about her very nature itself. There was a certain wild abandon and grace to her personality as much as her bending, and it made so much more intuitive sense in the environment of the arena rather than on the streets of the city, hunting down criminals.

And on the docks now, as they moved in perfect time with one another, Lightning remembered. From their very first session together, she had been acutely aware of just how _easy_ it was to work with the earth-bender. Their motions had a natural synergy to them, a compliment of bending styles and techniques regardless of whether they were sparring against each other or working alongside one another. It was an inherent balance that even Snow had commented on, so maybe it wasn't all that surprising that her relationship with Fang had progressed with such startling ease to more than just a friendship. Perhaps, just perhaps, if the cycle of rebirth existed for the rest of them as it did for the Avatar, it was because they had known one another in a past life. Lightning smiled at the thought and shook her head as they performed cool down stretches, their training finished for the evening. She was not one for sentimentalities, and the past didn't really matter to her. It was about the here and now, and the future that was yet to come.

She gratefully accepted the skin of water from Fang, relishing the feel of the cool liquid on her parched throat. Their evening training done, they sat side by side atop one of the breakers of the old harbor, looking out over the glittering waters of the harbor and bay, and letting the sea breeze cool the sweat from their skins. After a period of comfortable and companionable silence, Fang finally dared to break the quiet.

"Are you nervous?" she asked, and Lightning could feel the viridian eyes studying her. Fang didn't need to specify what.

Lightning looked into the horizon of the ocean, where the orange of the setting sun was steadily being engulfed by a star-studded twilight mantle.

"No," she spoke honestly, without any bravado. There was no need for posturing, not when it was just her and Fang.

She saw the flash of Fang's smile, and turned just in time to receive a quick kiss.

"Good," said Fang afterward. "You're going to be magnificent, Light. And I have this feeling…we're going to make a great team, you and I."

A hand sneaked in and intertwined fingers with her own.

"I just know it."


End file.
